Governor keen to revive Santa Barbara oil-drilling plan

SACRAMENTO — A controversial proposal to allow the first new oil drilling in state waters since the Santa Barbara oil spill 40 years ago has been resurrected by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in the revised budget plan he presented to lawmakers this week.

The proposal, which had been supported by environmental groups in Santa Barbara, was shot down earlier this year on a 2-1 vote of the State Lands Commission.

Schwarzenegger, who says the Tranquillon Ridge oil lease would generate $1.8 billion in advance royalties to the state over the next 14 years, is seeking legislation as part of any upcoming budget deal that would allow the project to bypass Lands Commission review.

Under the proposal, the oil company would speed up royalty payments to the state, providing $100 million that could be used to help balance next year's budget.

The proposal would allow slant drilling from an existing oil platform in federal waters. The new wells would draw from an oil reservoir beneath state waters.

As part of its application, the Plains Exploration & Production oil company had agreed to decommission three existing oil platforms and oil-processing facilities in Gaviota in 14 years. That trade-off won the support of traditional offshore-oil foes in Santa Barbara, such as the Environmental Defense Center, whose executives believed the deal provided the means to achieve their ultimate objective: to permanently rid the Santa Barbara coast of oil drilling.

State Natural Resources Agency Secretary Mike Chrisman said Friday those agreements would stay in place under the administration's proposal. "A lot of folks in that part of the state put a lot of work into this," he said. "We think it's a fair proposal. It generates significant revenues. We think it's time."

The executive director of the Environmental Defense Center, however, said Friday that his group has grave concerns about Schwarzenegger's proposal because of the precedent it would set in subverting the established environmental review process.

"The EDC and our clients all believe this continues to be a good deal and should move forward," said David Landecker. "The procedure is a little frightening, because we believe the process is a good one even if we didn't get the result we wanted in this case."

Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, has been a leading critic of the proposal from the outset and helped lobby the Lands Commission to reject the plan.

He said he will immediately begin rallying opposition among other legislators who represent coastal districts. "I think it's important to step up, and step up early."

Nava said he anticipates Schwarzenegger will seek to have the drilling plan incorporated into any upcoming budget deal — which means it could be encompassed in what are known as budget "trailer bills," which typically receive little public review.

"It is the antithesis of intelligent public policy evaluation," Nava said. "You completely avoid the public hearing process."

Nava said that because of the 1969 oil spill, which is often cited as the event that spurred the creation of the modern environmental movement, Santa Barbara holds a special, symbolic position in the public's perception of offshore oil drilling. He said the Santa Barbara coast should be treated with the same reverence as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

"My concern is that if you can drill in Santa Barbara, you can drill anywhere in California," he said. "If you cannot protect the environment in these places, you can't protect it anywhere."

Nava noted Santa Barbara County's review of the proposal concluded it would increase the risk and severity of oil spills. In addition, testimony from the Attorney General's Office to the Lands Commission expressed doubt on whether the agreement to terminate drilling activities by 2022 could be "reliably enforced."

The issue has created a fracture among Democrats in Santa Barbara County that has spilled over into the political jockeying over who will replace Nava in the Assembly after he is "termed out" next year.

Susan Jordan, an environmental activist and Nava's wife, appeared to have a clear path to the nomination. But because of Jordan's and Nava's opposition to the project, Santa Barbara Councilman Das Williams rescinded his endorsement of her and announced he will enter the race.

The two sides remain divided over the merits of the proposal but now appear to be united in their opposition to the end-run approach Schwarzenegger is proposing.

"It's problematic that the governor wants to ignore the process," said Landecker. "Let's take Cabrillo Port (a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal off the Oxnard coast). The Lands Commission, after days of hearings and listening to hours of testimony, decided it was not a good project, although the decision probably cost the state some revenue.